It happens gradually: A job that used to inspire you begins to tire you, one teardrop of boredom at a time.

“Sometimes, people realize that the job they were into at 19 is no longer of any interest or meaning to them,” Fearless Career Change author Marky Stein notes.

The distinction to draw, she advises, is whether you’re suffering from a fleeting disinterest with the workload at hand — or does your disillusionment burrow soul-deep?

Chances are high, according to CareerBuilder.com, that if you’ve weathered the recession in the same desk chair, you’re feeling wiped out, disinterested, confused. The site says more than a quarter of all workers claim to be dissatisfied with their daily grind — the highest CareerBuilder adviser Allison Nawoj has seen it. It’s a probable consequence, she speculates, of taking on “I never signed up for this” tasks like administration, accounting, and other types of tedium that turn a job into a daytime snooze.

To move on or not? The checklistBefore you chuck your day job into the dustbin of broken dreams, make sure you’ve “mastered it to your own satisfaction,” Stein recommends.

“You want to make sure you come out with industry knowledge,” agrees Nawoj. Plus, consider the possibility that landing your ideal gig may not mean galloping out of the office into utter joblessness, but just pressing a bigger number on the elevator wall.